No Time to Waste
by wileycoyote
Summary: Response to a challenge issued by Reptilia28. I've read a few responses to this challenge as well as other stories that have Harry or another character going back in time to fix things. However, I sometimes get impatient as I'm reading them. So, I decided to write a version of this cliché where very little time was wasted. Harry has a life to live, and he's got no time to waste.
1. Chapter 1

**No Time to Waste**

_This is a response to a challenge issued by "Reptilia28." I never saw the original challenge but I saw it explained and responded to in a few places. Here's what I know of the original challenge._

STORYLINE:

Harry is killed at 17 during a fight with Voldemort. He's sent to his Death's office (explained later) and finds out that this isn't the first time that this has happened.

Harry's Death (who can have a human name) is mad at his arrival. Apparently, people dying before their time is a black mark on the various Deaths' records, and Harry is getting perilously close to getting this particular one fired.

When Harry asks what was supposed to have happened, Death goes off on a rant saying how he was supposed to have killed Voldemort, found his soul mate ("Some Granger girl...") and lived to be a centennial age. But since Harry keeps getting into life-threatening situations for one reason or another, he keeps dying before that happens. Harry is surprised about the soul mate part.

Death gives Harry a paper to sign that allows him to retain his memories (the previous times, he wasn't given this option for some reason). Harry is deposited to a previous time of the writer's choosing.

Eventually, Harry gets it right. He kills Voldemort, gets the girl, and lives to a ripe old age of whatever. And Death doesn't get fired.

REQUIREMENTS:

Harry had to have died at least three times before this one.

The memory-keeping contract must be included.

Death must refer to Hermione as "some Granger girl" when Harry's soul mate turns up in his rant.

Obviously, must be H/Hr.

Have fun.

OPTIONAL:

Dumbledore's manipulations can be a factor in Harry's premature demises.

_I've read a few responses to this challenge as well as other stories that have Harry or another character going back in time to fix things. I admit to being a big sucker for them. However, I sometimes get impatient as I'm reading them – especially the ones where the character back in time sits around and waits for certain things to happen the way they did before to act to change them. So, I decided to write a version of this cliché where very little time was wasted. Harry has a life to live, and he's got no time to waste._

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry landed on his back hard. He panicked for a moment when he found he couldn't breathe. "Please don't let me be dead again," he thought. Then he gasped harshly for a few moments when he finally managed to fill his lungs. "Just the wind knocked out of me from the fall." He opened his eyes and saw a large purple bus. Stan Shunpike was all of the way through his introduction and appeared to have asked him his destination at least once before Harry figured out where — or rather when — he was. It was before his third year, right after he blew up Marge and ran from the house.

"Aaah, could you take me to the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Sure. No problem. You want hot chocolate?"

"That would be great." Stan and Harry maneuvered Harry's trunk onto the bus. Harry searched through it to find his moneybag, handed the fee to Stan, and took a seat before Ernie took off with a bang. Harry's mind raced almost as quickly as the Knight Bus as he tried to process all that had happened to him and how he had ended up here.

HPHPHPHPHP

Harry walked out to let Voldemort kill him after seeing Snape's memories. Bracing for the worst, Harry was surprised to wake up after being hit with that lethal green light in what appeared to be a completely different place. He looked around and found himself in front of a deli-like counter. Looking up, he read the large sign telling him to take a number and automatically reached out his hand and withdrew a small slip of paper with the number 45,871 printed on it. Then he looked back up and saw that they were currently serving 20,689. Looking around, he found a chair to sit down on and started to look around to figure out what he was doing here.

What could have been anywhere from 10 minutes to 5 days later, a voice called Harry's number, and he walked to the counter as he had watched other do before him. As he threw his number in the basket on the counter, the owner of the voice looked up from a clipboard.

"What the hell? Do you never learn?"

"I'm sorry, but have we met?"

"'Have we met?' he asks." She rolled her eyes, and Harry found himself fascinated by her extra long eyelashes tipped in what appeared to be gold dust. "You've only been here more times than any other of my clients." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, her irises had changed from brilliant green to deep brown, and she appeared much calmer. "But you wouldn't remember that, so I shouldn't take it out on you. You didn't ask for fate to saddle you with that prophecy or for that old man to keep you in the dark. Come along."

At this, she spun on her heel and led Harry through a long hallway. They passed at least a dozen doors before she opened one and walked into a small office. Harry took the indicated seat in front of the desk as she sat behind it.

"Hello, I'm your death manager. My name is Genevieve. I am here to help you deal with your recent death." As she recited what sounded very much like something she had said 5,000 times before, she reached down and pulled out a large file from a drawer and placed it on her desk. "You are Harry James Potter, and you are not supposed to be here right now. You are meant to kill the bad guy, hook up with your soul mate, and live a long life before joining us anytime after your 150th birthday. Unfortunately for you, this is not the first time you have died prematurely. Something has to change, and I am going to see that it happens."

"Premature death?"

"Indeed, Harry. This is your…" Here she opened the large file and flipped forward to about the middle. "…ninth visit to my office. Just assume that any of those times where you almost died, you actually did and were sent back to try again."

"Soul mate?"

"Oh, yes." Again, she consulted the file but this time much closer to the front. "Some Granger girl that you apparently can't seem to get over yourself to even ask out."

"Hermione? But she's dating Ron."

"So? Do you really see them working out in the long term? What, exactly, do they have in common other than you? Please! You and she are much better suited."

"Wow."

"Indeed." After a brief silence, Genevieve clapped her hands together, and Harry startled out of his reverie. "Now, I've got a few thousand more souls to deal with today, so we need to get moving. You need to go back. But this time, we're going to make sure you know what you're doing." She turned to a machine on her desk that looked like a computer had mated with a pumpkin. She clicked a few keys and rattled some of her papers around. She then grabbed the piece of paper that had appeared on her desk and looked it over. "Yes, this looks like it's in order. You'll need to sign here at the bottom of page 5 and on the last page and initial in the indicated places at the bottom of each page in between."

"What is this?"

"The first 5 pages are the standard Return to Life Schedule D. But the additional pages are Retention Form M-6 that will allow you to remember what happened to you before you came here so you can avoid all those messy deaths this time around."

Harry looked at her blankly.

"It's very simple. We'll be sending you back, but this time you will be going back to an earlier point in your life. It will be at an optimal time for you to fix what you need to fix. You will remember this life and are required to keep all of this strictly confidential. Well, aside from the soul mate, that is. You can certainly tell her. If you manage to not meet your goals and have another premature death even with all the extra help, you will have forfeited your chance to try again. Instead, you will move on to your 'next great adventure.'" This last was said with a bit of sarcasm.

"OK. Ahh. Before I sign this, what exactly are the goals I have to meet?"

She smiled widely at this, and Harry felt rather like he had gotten something correct in class. "Very smart of you to check your facts. As I understand it, this can be a very overwhelming process for the recently dead. Now, your first goal is to kill the bad guy." She opened Harry's file again. "Tom Riddle or Lord Voldemort, whatever he's calling himself, is past due for his death, and you were sent to help that along. Second, you are to get together with your soul mate and have at least one child with her. We would prefer if you lived a long and fruitful life of at least 150 years, but that is not a requirement. Accidents do happen, after all."

"That's it? Kill Tom, marry Hermione, and start a family with her."

"Indeed. It does sound simple when put that way. But we all know that Tom has made your task most interesting. And you will be going back to your own past as your younger self. So, you will still have to find and destroy all of his soul containers."

"Are there more that I didn't know about when I died?"

"No, sorry, that would be cheating. I can't answer that. I can't tell you more than you knew when you died."

"You told me Hermione was my soul mate."

"Very true. But you needed to know what your goals were, and that was specifically mentioned, so there was no avoiding that."

Harry looked down at the papers in front of him and started to skim through the words. Within a very short time, he was lost. "Am I really expected to be able to understand this?"

"To be honest, no. Very few actually read it."

"How can I be sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to and not breaking any of the rules if I don't read it? I don't want to screw this up again."

"I can promise you, as your death manager, there is no other hidden agenda. Meet your goals, keep your previous life a secret from everyone other than your soul mate, and you'll be fine."

"What happens if someone guesses the truth?"

"Don't worry, no one ever guesses this."

Harry looked down again and attempted to read the forms again. After a few minutes he gave in and took the pen and signed and initialed in all the indicated places. Before he had even put the pen down, everything went black. The next thing he was aware of was waking up in the bushes by the Knight Bus.


	2. Chapter 2

Before he knew it, the Knight Bus was stopping in front of the Leaky Cauldron and Cornelius Fudge was greeting Harry as he exited. That conversation went about the same way as Harry remembered it. When he was alone again in the room Tom, the barman, had given him, Harry realized how tired he was. He took off his shoes and his glasses and was asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, Harry made his way down to the bar to get breakfast. Well, it was more like lunch considering how late he had slept. But since it was the first meal of his day and it largely consisted of eggs and sausage, he'd call it breakfast. As he ate, he tried to come up with a plan. He could get the tiara with no difficulty, but how was he to destroy it without Gryffindor's sword? He couldn't very well just go up to the Headmaster and ask to borrow it. If he waited until Sirius opened up Grimmauld Place again, he could get the locket. But how was he going to get the ring at the Gaunt shack? Dumbledore almost got himself killed getting it, and he knew much more than Harry did about wards and traps. And Gringotts! Last time, they'd almost gotten killed, and he'd had Ron and Hermione to help.

Harry finished his breakfast and walked out to the Diagon Alley. One part of his brain marveled at how bright, cheery and busy the alley was compared to the last time he'd seen it. The other part was working on how to get the Horcruxes. If he moved quickly enough, could he destroy them all before Voldemort got a new body? If he did, would that be it? Would his spirit just pass on? How about if he already had that gross baby body that Pettigrew was carrying in the graveyard? Would Harry have to find and kill it as well?

It was as he was walking passed the bank for the fifth or sixth time, that he had a sudden thought. He had to keep his previous life a secret. That didn't mean he had to do it all himself. Didn't Bill Weasley work for Gringotts as a curse breaker before the war? Surely retrieving and destroying the ring couldn't be that much different than what he did for them in Egypt. He couldn't very well ask for Bill's help. He hadn't met him yet when he was a third year. But couldn't he hire Gringotts to do the job? Well, there was only one way to find out, he supposed.

With that thought, Harry turned in to the bank. He found a quiet line off toward the edges of the lobby, and when he got to the front, he asked the cashier if it was possible to hire them for a curse-breaking job.

"Third door on the right. Next, please." Harry wasn't terribly good at judging emotions on a goblin's face, but he was fairly certain there was a hint of, 'you stupid wizard' mentally tacked on at the end there. How Harry was meant to know where to go when there were no signs or indications, he didn't know. But he shrugged it off and went in the direction indicated.

Harry entered the door and before he could really get a good look around, a young goblin behind a desk had spoken, "What do you want?"

"I, umm, was hoping to speak to someone about a curse-breaking job that I need some help with."

The goblin stared at him unblinkingly for more than two minutes, and Harry stared back, feeling like he was staring down something much scarier than a hippogryff. Finally the goblin said, "Wait here." The stare was broken, and the goblin left the room by another door.

Harry looked around at the room. It was remarkably warm and cozy, all things considered. Harry had half expected axes hung in decorative patterns and other medieval touches. But this room was light and airy. The furniture was sleek and modern but quite solid looking. He didn't see any obvious guest chairs, so he just stayed where he was and tried not to gawp too obviously. When the door the goblin had disappeared into opened, he was beckoned forward.

The room he was in now was more like a conference room. Again, the furniture was sleek and modern looking. He took a chair when his guide pointed him to one and looked to the older-looking goblin sitting in the chair opposite. There was room for at least three other people on both long sides, as well as one at each of the narrow ends. But at the moment, it was just Harry and the one goblin assessing each other across the table.

"How may Gringotts be of service to you, Mr. Potter?"

Despite the kind words, Harry was almost certain this goblin was thinking Harry was much too young to have any real work for them. Harry didn't bother wondering how they knew who he was, but it did grate on him a bit that he didn't know the name of the person he was speaking to.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions first, if I may? I'm still pretty new to the wizarding world, so I'm not sure how everything works." At a nod, Harry continued. "I know that Gringotts prides itself in keeping their clients' valuables safe and their business dealings confidential. Does that confidentiality extend to an inquiry like this — even if it turns out I can't afford your services or you can't help me?"

"You are already a customer, Mr. Potter. Any business you conduct with us, whether banking or other, will be kept strictly confidential."

Harry was again having trouble interpreting the expression on the goblin's face, but he was fairly certain from the tone of his voice that he was skirting close to the edge of insulting the goblin he was speaking to. Oh dear.

"Oh, good. I was hoping you would say that, but I know that in the Muggle world sometimes different divisions of a company come under different agreements and such." There, he hoped that helped. He seemed to remember something about getting right to the point when dealing with goblins as time is money and all that. Here goes nothing. "Have you ever heard of a Horcrux?"

There was a pause while the goblin looked at him in what he hoped was shock. "I have. I am quite surprised you have heard of such despicable objects." There was a sharp twist of disgust at the last two words. Good. "What do you know of them?"

"I have reason to believe that Voldemort created a few of them and that if they are not destroyed, he'll come back." Harry was glad to see there was no silly flinching at Voldemort's name from this goblin.

"You have reason to believe?"

"I do." Harry declined to provide his reasons and hoped the goblin didn't push for details right now. "Do you have a way to determine if something is a Horcrux as well as to destroy one?"

"We can do both. By goblin law, it is illegal to possess any such object, and so any found are destroyed immediately."

"Wonderful." Harry cleared his throat and tried not to squirm under the goblin's stare. "I would like to hire you to find and destroy one of them, and I am hoping you will be able to destroy one or two others. But I don't really know if I can afford your services. I don't know if this is something where you can give me an estimate ahead of time after I give you some details or …" Harry cut himself off as he was starting to babble.

"You mention that we would need to find one, but you are hoping to destroy others. Does that mean you are currently in possession of these others?"

"Yes and no. It's somewhat complicated."

"Why don't we start with the first one? You will tell us what you know, and we will give you a rough estimate of the cost. Then, we can discuss the complications."

"Sounds like a plan." Harry sat up a bit straighter and tried to order his thoughts. "The first object is a ring that once belonged to the Gaunt family. They claimed it was Slytherin's ring, but I think the crest on the stone might be from the Peverell family. It's in a small shack outside a town called Little Hangleton. The shack is within viewing distance of a large manor house, formerly owned by the Riddle family. Voldemort, when he was still just Tom Marvolo Riddle, tracked down his maternal uncle in that shack. I believe he stole the ring on the same day that he killed his father and paternal grandparents in the manor house and then set up his uncle to go to Azkaban for it. I don't know if the Horcrux is in the stone, the setting, or the whole thing, but I believe the stone is the resurrection stone from story of the three brothers who made a deal with death."

Harry wasn't sure if he was relieved or not to find that he had no trouble interpreting the look of skeptical disbelief on the goblin's face. He didn't care if they believed him or not. He just felt he needed to give them all the information he had. "What I don't know is what sort of curses and enchantments protect it and the shack."

"That is fine, Mr. Potter. That is our job."

"Is there anything else about this first object, Mr. Potter?"

"Not that I can think of, sir." Harry really wished he could show them all the memories from Dumbledore. But Harry's memory of them would include his older self and Dumbledore. He had to keep his other life a secret.

The goblin blinked a bit at Harry's use of 'sir' but moved on quickly. "Now how about the 'more complicated' ones you mentioned earlier."

"The next object is the cup of Helga Hufflepuff. It is golden and has badgers in the place of handles. It's in the Lestrange family vault here at Gringotts."

The goblin that Harry still didn't know the name of mumbled a few words in another language. Harry was sure by the tone that he had used a few colorful curse words in his native language. Goblinspeak? Gobbledegook? Whatever.

"How certain are you of your facts, Mr. Potter?"

"Almost positive."

"Wait here." With this, he stood up and retreated to a door behind on the opposite side of the one Harry had come in. Harry was surprised to see that the goblin actually appeared shorter now that he wasn't sitting on what was, apparently, a raised chair.

Ten minutes later, he was back as abruptly as he had gone. "One of my associates is conducting an inspection of some of the vaults that have not been opened in years as their owners are in Azkaban. If he finds any illegal objects that he must destroy, the cost will be taken out of the vault owner's account."

"If you find it, I am wondering if it is possible for you to store the cup securely but not destroy it right away. I ask because I am concerned that what is left of Voldemort's soul will sense the destruction of his Horcruxes. If he does, he will be that much more motivated to ensure he has a body before they are all gone. Once he has a body, he can make more."

"You have an interesting theory. We do not have much information about the effect of destroying a Horcrux on the remaining soul. Most of the objects we have encountered are in ancient tombs, and the anchored soul has long run out of energy. However, that process takes centuries." He wrote a note on a book in front of him and then poked the top of page with his finger. "My assistant will pass your concerns on to the search team. We will store the device until we can do more research. If we find your concerns are valid, we will consult with you and attempt to destroy all of his anchors at one time."

Harry nodded and smiled. It was good to have someone listen to him and take his theories seriously. The goblin did not know Harry, but still he listened and considered his ideas.

Now, how about the last object you mentioned?"

"Have you ever heard of a living being storing a Horcrux?"

"I have not. It would be foolish to do so, as the death of the animal would defeat the purpose of creating the Horcrux in the first place."

Harry took a deep breath. He couldn't decide if he wanted to tell him the "animal" in question was sitting across the table from him. "Well, if someone had done so by accident, would you know of a way to destroy the Horcrux without killing the … animal?"

"Having never encountered the problem, I am not sure. But I could have a few people look for information."

"I would appreciate it if you could do so."

"You will not tell me what animal you think has been … accidentally turned into a Horcrux?"

"I don't think that I will at this time. Be assured that I have it secure if you find a solution to the problem."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. Is there anything else?"

"No, I don't think so. There are other Horcruxes, but I will be better able to retrieve them myself in a few months. Perhaps, I can bring them here and we can destroy them with the cup and the ring. Assuming, of course, I can afford your services."

"We will have an estimate for the job and information on the search of the vaults tomorrow by 2 PM. Come to the same door you did today and ask for Ironfist."

Harry walked back the way he came and then entered a line and visited his vault. After getting a bag full of money, he checked the accounting sheet on the wall for his current balance. The large debits in August of last year and the year before were obviously his Hogwarts tuition. Harry wrote down some numbers, including what appeared to be interest that was deposited monthly. He'd work out some numbers and try to figure out how much extra cash he had after paying for Hogwarts for the next few years. It would be difficult to start that life with Hermione if he didn't have a decent education. If he couldn't afford the goblins' services, there might be another solution to the ring that he wasn't thinking of right now. So, he couldn't afford to spend his tuition money on the Horcrux.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time he left the bank, it was close to dinnertime. Harry was exhausted from the tension of the last few hours and just wanted to sleep. But his stomach complained loudly, so he went to the main room of the pub.

"Mr. Potter."

"Please, call me Harry, Tom. Is it too early for me to ask for dinner?"

"Not at all. We've got a lovely shepherd's pie tonight. Take a seat. Pumpkin juice?"

"Just water, thanks." Harry had to bite back the urge to ask if it was made with real shepherds. He didn't think Tom would appreciate that sort of black humor. When it came, the shepherd's pie was plain but filling, and Harry wolfed it all down as he watched the people in the pub.

After dinner, Harry went back upstairs and pulled out some paper. He needed to start getting organized.

_Diary_

_Ring_

_Locket_

_Cup_

_Diadem_

_Me?_

_Snake?_

_Voldemort_

Harry looked grimly at the list. He crossed off the diary since it was already destroyed and put an X next to the cup. The goblins would find it in Bella's vault, but there was no reason to count his chickens before they hatched. The goblins were planning the expedition to get the ring. The diadem he could get when he went back to school. Assuming the goblins were waiting to destroy the cup and ring, he would do the same with the tiara. But if it came down to it, he could go down to the Chamber and retrieve another fang and stab it. In fact, he should get the fang or some venom just in case either way. The locket would have to wait until he could get into Grimmauld Place.

He'd have to save some venom to destroy the locket. Maybe he needed to look into some books on harvesting ingredients. Or he could ask someone if there were people you could hire to do stuff like that. Surely the great ruddy snake should be good for potions ingredients somehow. He needed to ensure that if he lost the ability to speak parseltongue after getting rid of the Horcrux in him, he could still open the locket — and the chamber if need be. And there was no way he was listening to Trelawney predicting his death for the next few years. He started another list.

_Books on uses of basilisk parts and how to harvest ingredients_

_Ask __Tom? Fortescue? Goblins?_ if there are people that can be hired to do it

_ Perhaps they could render basilisk for percentage of profit?_

_ Set aside all the venom for me to use until H's are all gone_

_Ask about recording voices in wizarding world_

_Need another trunk for extra books and someplace for diadem and fang/venom_

_ Can I get an extra compartment added to mine like Moody's?_

_Switch classes from Divination to Runes or Arithmancy_

_ Buy both books and read first chapter of each to decide_

_ Write _McGonagall

_How to get Sirius free and Wormtail secure?_

_How to make sure Buckbeak doesn't get executed?_

_How to get into Grimmauld and grab the locket?_

_How to get together with Hermione without alienating Ron?_

Sure. This would be easy. And after that, he'd work on world peace. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. 'I have plenty of time to do all of this. I'm only 13, for Merlin's sake! Relax, Potter. You're getting hysterical — and talking to yourself.'

He lifted his head out of his hands as he got an idea about Buckbeak at least. And if it didn't work, he could try something else. He pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and started a letter.

_Hagrid,_

_Thanks for the book. It was a bit scary at first, but I managed to get my belt around it before it did too much damage at the Dursleys. Now that I'm in the wizarding world, I took the chance to set it free and tried to approach it like I would an actual wild animal — very cautiously. Not that I have any experience with wild animals. Although my uncle's sister does have a bulldog that you would think was wild with the way he used to bite at me. In any case, I got it to calm down after some soft words and stroking, and I've looked over some of it already. _

_Did you know it's going to be my textbook for Magical Creatures? I guess that's what you meant by it being useful. I'm just really glad that the book seems to start with the more harmless looking creatures. I'm sure the class will start that way as well, so we can work up to anything that could actually hurt us if someone wasn't paying attention. After all, not all of us are as good with wild animals as you are. I don't know how you do it._

_I'm really looking forward to all my new classes next year and to getting back to Hogwarts. Thanks again for my birthday gift._

_Harry_

He really hoped Hagrid got the hint and decided against starting the first ever magical creatures class for the third year students with hippogryffs. Harry crossed his fingers as he put his ink and quill away. It wasn't late, but he was exhausted, so he was going to bed. He supposed dying really took it out of a person.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP HPHP

The good news about going to bed before 8 PM was that even when you were extraordinarily tired and needed extra sleep, it was hard to sleep in. So, it was 9 AM, and he'd already showered and had eaten. He had taken the time before he went downstairs to do some quick math, and he knew how much he could afford to spend on the ring expedition. He was even ready with a plan for the day as the shops opened. First was the bookstore. He bought the books on his book list and let slip to the clerk at Flourish and Blotts about how to calm the monster books. He also picked up the first year books for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes and did some digging and found some that he thought might help him understand if the basilisk was useful for potions or anything else.

Next was the luggage store. He asked some questions and found that he could bring his current trunk (emptied) in for alterations. He would get two new compartments added and some additional security.

He went back to his room and emptied his trunk. Then, he looked over the first couple chapters of the Arithmancy and Ancient Runes books and decided Runes looked more interesting and more useful. Now, he could write to McGonagall. After that, he wrote to Ron, as well. He knew it would take awhile to get to Egypt, but he thought he would try to minimize the damage him withdrawing from Divination was likely to cause by telling him immediately and reassuring him he wasn't going to become a bookworm. Whatever he did with Wormtail was going to cause some conflict with Ron no matter what, so it would be better not to start things with him already mad at him.

Both letters written, Harry sent the one to Hogwarts with Hedwig and went to the post office to rent the services on an international owl for Ron's letter. Next, he headed to the luggage store to get them started on the changes to his trunk.

Harry went to Fortescue's and ordered a sensible lunch and argued with the owner to allow him to pay. He remembered this from last time, but that didn't mean he was just going to accept without trying to change his mind. When Florean walked away after winning the argument, Harry pulled out his book bag and got started on some of his homework. It was certainly easier to understand and explain the concepts; but some of the details were fuzzy, so he pulled out some schoolbooks for reference.

"Here you go. Anything else you want?"

"Mr. Fortescue, I have an odd question for you. Is there any way to record voices in the wizarding world and then be able to play back the message at a later time?"

"Oh yes, as easy as you please. There are orbs that allow you to record a vocal or visual message. The latter are a little more expensive, of course. You can find them over at Oswald's Odditities. It's right next to Quality Quidditch Supplies."

Harry tried now to snicker at the wizarding world's seemingly obsession with alliteration. "Thanks. There's still so much I don't know about the wizarding world! I appreciate your help." Harry didn't ask about the basilisk yet. He'd do some reading first. In the meantime, he had plenty of time to finish his lunch, the essay he was working on (or at least the first draft), and then indulge in some ice cream before he went to Gringotts.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP HPHP

"Hello. I have an appointment a 2 PM. I was told to ask for Ironfist." The goblin at the desk was different from the one yesterday. In fact, he was fairly certain the office was different. Much like yesterday, the room was furnished in a modern style, but there were small differences. He decided not to give it too much thought, as he was certain the goblins would not be interested in explaining it to him. Much like yesterday, he was ushered through a door into a meeting room. This room, he was sure, was the same as yesterday, and the goblin behind the desk was the same as well.

"Mr. Potter." The goblin nodded and indicated that Harry should sit in the same chair across from him that he had used yesterday with a wave of his hand.

"Ironfist." Harry nodded in what he hoped was a respectful manner.

"First, I would like to let you know that the search we started yesterday was successful. In addition to the object in question, a number of other illegal artifacts were confiscated from a number of different vaults."

"Excellent. I'm glad you found it." Harry was also glad that the search and seizure was masked by the seizure of various other items, but he left that unsaid.

"The cup has been placed into secure storage. We have researchers looking for information on the effect destroying such a young Horcrux might have when the anchored soul is undoubtedly still out there somewhere. If we don't have a definitive answer either way before then, we will destroy it within one year. They are also looking into using living objects as Horcruxes and any way to destroy them without destroying the living object."

Harry nodded as the goblin paused.

"In light of all that was discussed yesterday, I have been authorized to share information about our method of identifying and containing a Horcrux." At this, the goblin passed over a thick scroll. "Please review the information soon and let us know if you have any questions."

"Thank you. I really appreciate this. It will certainly make it easier for me to work with the other objects I was planning on tracking down myself."

"Lastly, we have the estimate you asked for." This time the paper handed over was not rolled into a scroll. As Harry glanced down at it, his head reeled a bit with all the details and numbers. "I will walk you through the various parts so you can understand it."

"Great." Harry had already glanced at the bottom line and realized he could afford it, but there was no reason not to understand it before he agreed to their terms.

"First, you'll see that there are four people assigned to this job." The goblin pointed to a page in front of him that Harry assumed was his copy of the estimate and one of the lines on Harry's copy blinked a few times. "There is a researcher whose job it is to find the exact location and any other background information the curse breakers may need. Then there are two curse breakers and a third who also acts as the team leader. You will be charged an hourly fee for each person as specified here."

Harry could see that the researcher would cost him considerably more than the curse breakers and the team leader a smidge more than the other curse breakers. The fee surprised him because it actually seemed much smaller than what he expected. What Harry didn't know was that the goblins were as interested in seeing that Voldemort didn't come back as he was. After all, wizards and witches who are hiding in their homes in fear were terrible for the economy. And they knew exactly what Harry could afford, so they made sure their estimate was something he could afford. There was no reason to do something for nothing after all. That was also bad for business.

"This line specifies the bonus we are paid for completing the job quickly. As you can see, it steadily decreases the longer we take to complete the job. There are some incidental expenses." Here a few lines blinked, but all together they were still a very small proportion of the expenses so Harry decided he didn't care enough to ask more. "Finally, we have made three estimates of the time we think it will take to complete the job. One is if all goes well, another if many things go wrong, and the middle is the average between the two. All three estimated totals are at the bottom here. Do you have any questions?"

"No, actually, I don't. You've explained things well, and this seems a very fair price. I'll go with it. However, I'd like to stipulate that if you go beyond the highest estimate, I will only be responsible for a portion of anything over that amount."

The goblin gave a small smirk, and Harry got a strange feeling that he approved of Harry's stipulation. "Seventy-five percent."

"No, that's too high. Twenty-five."

"Sixty."

"Forty."

"Shall we split the difference at fifty?"

Harry paused for a moment and did some quick math in his head. "I can live with that."

"Very well. I'll just add that clause." Here the goblin waved his hand at the page, and Harry watched his copy glow and then a paragraph appeared at the end of the page. "If all is well, please sign this estimate, and we can get started on the job immediately."

Harry signed after rereading the whole thing again — just in case.

"We will keep in touch with you via owl mail about our progress and any issues that come up as well as the research we discussed earlier. Is there anything else I can assist you with today?"


	4. Chapter 4

In the coming days, Harry was busy. He finished his homework to a much higher standard than he would have previously. True, it was much easier for him since he had done it before and studied much beyond that level. But on another level, it was harder because he had forgotten a lot of the details of what he had been studying back in 2nd and 3rd year. Also, he wanted to do a much better job, so he had done hours of research that he had never done in his previous life. But with the memory of how helpless he had been during the past year during the Horcrux hunt and how many times Hermione had saved his arse with her superior knowledge, he was determined to wring every last bit of knowledge out of his school experience.

At the same time, he hadn't wanted to waste the opportunity of staying in the Alley. He explored more thoroughly than he had in his previous life, venturing into stores that he hadn't before. He found not only recording crystals but also many other interesting objects in Oswald's Oddities. He also found a very nice secondhand clothing store that had decent wizarding and Muggle clothes and acquired a few pieces that fit him without having to dip far into his vault. He wasn't even vaguely tempted to spend a ton of money on clothing he would most likely never wear before growing out of it. In almost all of the other stores, Harry stuck to browsing only. But at least now he knew where to go to if he needed a wizarding tent or a pensieve or many other useful things.

After doing enough reading to know he would need a professional to render the basilisk corpse, he decided to put off that decision for a few months at least. He wanted to get some venom for himself in case he needed it to destroy either the diadem or the locket. He didn't know how much he would need, and he didn't feel like answering questions about why he wanted it. According to what he'd read, the corpse would remain mostly usable for another few years, so he had time to make a decision.

He had gotten word from Gringotts that they had located the shack and were in the process of scoping out the wards and protections. They anticipated retrieving the ring within a few weeks, and they would keep in touch with him via owl about the final results and price of the expedition.

By the time Hermione and Ron met him in Diagon Alley with the rest of the Weasleys, Harry was packed and ready to head back to Hogwarts but nervous about how to act around his friends. It turned out he had nothing to worry about because as soon as saw them, he nerves melted away. He felt completely natural around them and only rarely found himself thinking about his previous life and the things that hadn't happened yet (and might not ever) in this life.

Nothing he had done differently affected the Weasleys usual late arrival to platform 9¾, so they had still ended up sitting in the compartment with Professor Lupin — much to Harry's relief. In what felt no time at all, Harry was listening to Ron and Hermione argue about Scabbers and Crookshanks. This, Harry thought to himself, is an opportunity I cannot pass up.

"Hey, stop it a second." But that didn't work. "Ron! Hermione!" Finally he raised his voice. "Be quiet!"

His friends turned to him in surprise.

"Sorry about that, but you were too busy arguing to hear me." He smiled. He didn't want them mad before he even got started. "Can we try to talk about this and figure out a solution? Because I don't feel like listening to you two argue about your pets all year."

"It's not my fault her cat's a psycho …"

"Crookshanks is just doing what comes naturally …"

They both were talking at once. He just raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms while looking at them both impatiently. He knew this wasn't usual behavior for him, and he was hoping that would get them to listen to him.

They both stopped talking at around the same time. Ron looked a bit sheepish while Hermione mumbled a quick, "Sorry."

"Alright. First off, can you explain to me why neither of your pets are in a carrier for the trip to Hogwarts?" He pointed to Hedwig, who looked down at them rather smugly. "Hedwig and most other pets I've seen on the rain spend the trip in carriers or cages. The only person I know who doesn't other than Ron is Neville. And last I checked, he was always loosing his frog. Do either of you want to lose your pet?" Harry stopped Ron with a hand in the air before he could protest. "I know you've never lost Scabbers on the trip before, Ron, but he has wandered off while we were at Hogwarts multiple times. Also, he is now in close proximity of not one, but two animals who might see him as prey. Really, it is only sensible to put him in a box or carrier for the duration of the trip."

"But Crookshanks hates being in the carrier."

"Hermione, do you really think Hedwig enjoys being in a cage? It's for their own protection."

"I guess." Hermione was pulling out the carrier Crookshanks had been in earlier and starting to talk to her cat. "Come on, Crooks. I know you don't like it, but it won't be for long, I promise. And when we get to school, I'll look up the spells to expand it on the inside for you so you'll have plenty of room the next time we have to use it. OK?"

Harry left her to her coaxing and shoving match with her cat. He had attempted to make friends with the cat when she first bought it but didn't think his help would be appreciated right now. Instead, he turned to Ron.

"I don't understand why I should have to put Scabbers in a cage just because her demon cat won't behave." Ron was looking mulish.

"So you'd prefer to chance him getting mauled? You don't have pet dibs on this carriage, Ron. Crookshanks may be new for Hermione, but he had as much right to be here as Scabbers does. In fact, you are the one with a pet that is not on the approved list for Hogwarts, not Hermione. Now, come on. I know you have a little cage you use sometimes. Is it in your trunk?"

"It's not fair."

"Life's not fair, Ron. Get over it. Is this worth risking both your friendship with Hermione and Scabbers' life?"

"Fine. But I'm not making him live in a cage when we get back to the tower."

"No one asked you to. I asked you to put him in a cage for the duration of the trip. That's it."

Harry turned from Ron's low mumbling to Scabbers and grumbling at the unfairness of life in general and saw Hermione talking to her cat while he glared back at her from the other side of the closed door. He pulled out an apple and some chocolate and offered them to Hermione and Ron. Taking his cue, they both offered animal-appropriate treats to their pets. A few minutes later, both animals were secured and mostly calm, and so were the owners.

"OK, now let's talk about this." They both looked at him. He knew he didn't often take charge like this, but he knew this was important and hoped it would all work out. "First off, are there any other cats that live in the tower? I don't pay much attention to what animals hang out in the common room."

"Yeah, a few of the older girls have cats. I think there were about a half dozen in Gryffindor last year, but those are just the ones I saw regularly — so there might be more." Not surprisingly, Hermione had paid attention to those details.

"Has Scabbers ever had a problem with other cats not understanding that he is a pet and not an ordinary rat?"

"No, but they weren't demon …"

"Ron, we'll get nowhere if you don't stop insulting her cat. How would you like it if someone insulted your pet? Please try to put it aside for just a few minutes."

Ron was looking mulish again. Lovely. "No, he's never had any trouble with any _other_ cats. In fact, I think he made friends with that little black and white one with the tuxedo markings. I used to find them taking turns chasing each other. It was kind of weird, frankly."

"OK, so there is something different with how Crookshanks sees him. There are a few options as I see it. He may be more aggressive than other cats. Perhaps he had to fend for himself at some point and so just needs time to learn that Scabbers isn't his next meal." Harry gave Hermione a quelling look as she went to open her mouth. "About the only evidence we have to support that theory is what the pet store owner said about him being there for a while. Alternatively, he _is_ part kneazle. I think I heard that they are supposed to be good at detecting suspicious things. Maybe there is something funny going on with Scabbers, and we just can't sense it."

This time the quelling look was aimed at Ron. "You said yourself, Ron, that he's been off all summer. Maybe someone cursed him or something. Crookshanks could be like that sneakascope you got me this summer. Bill thought it wasn't working, but he just didn't know the twins were playing a prank. But I don't now how to test that."

"Was it still acting up when you got it?"

"No, it was completely still when I got it. It's in my trunk somewhere."

Hermione bit her lip and looked at them both. "Do you think you could get it out now and see if it reacted to either Scabbers or Crookshanks?"

"Sure, that would be a good test, and it certainly won't hurt anything. Are you OK with that, Ron?"

Ron nodded his consent. So Harry dug out his sneakascope. At first it was still. Then he moved his hand closer to Scabbers, and it started spinning and screaming. As he pulled it away, it continued even as he moved it closer to Crookshanks.

"OK, that's hardly conclusive. But I think we can at least say there may be something else other than the obvious going on. Do we agree?"

Both of his friends were looking a bit wide-eyed but otherwise nodded agreement. Harry turned back to his trunk and buried his still spinning and screaming sneakascope in some of Vernon's oldest and thickest socks and then buried that at the bottom of his trunk. As he closed it up and put it back on the overhead rack, he asked, "How about we agree to have one or two of the teachers check them both out at some point?" Hopefully, he could convince them that one of those teachers should be Remus.

Within a few minutes, everyone had settled down, and things were back to more or less normal between the trio. Harry made sure he had plenty of chocolate readily available for when the Dementors got on the train. He couldn't betray his knowledge of the Patronus Charm and wasn't even sure his 13-year-old self could manage the spell easily in any case. Instead, he was planning on eating a piece of chocolate as soon as the train stopped in the hopes that it would act as a preventative. He had also sat beside Lupin and planned to wake him as soon as he could. This way, he might cast his Patronus a little earlier. Harry was hoping to avoid fainting at the very least.

Some time later, Malfoy and his goons had come and gone, and Ron was trouncing Harry in chess while griping about Harry dropping Divination. "Well, it's your own damn fault, Ron. You're the one that told me how cool your brother, the curse breaker, is. How am I ever going to get a cool job taking Divinations?"

"Hey, why's the train slowing? We can't be at school yet." Hermione derailed that conversation, but Harry was just as happy.

"Don't know." Harry put his hand in his pocket and grabbed a chocolate frog. He ate his chocolate as everyone debated what was going on. As the lights blinked off and Ginny and Neville were tripping their way into the carriage, he poked Professor Lupin. "Professor, there's something funny going on. The train is stopping, but we aren't at Hogsmeade yet. And it's starting to feel really cold."

Remus was coming awake slowly, but he reacted more quickly when he heard about it getting cold. He was standing with his wand in hand before the Dementor had managed to open the door all the way. "No one is hiding Sirius Black under their cloaks." Harry hadn't noticed how angry he had sounded the last time. This time, he knew that the voice in his head was his mother and that he was using his fledging Occlumency skills to try to fight the effects. He really thought the chocolate had helped a bit, too. But he still didn't get a good look at what form Remus' patronus took since he was busy trying to stay conscious.

"Close and lock this behind me. I'll deal with them and be back." Remus made eye contact with Hermione, who was sitting by the door, as he stepped out.

Harry and his friends huddled together, but no one felt much like talking. It only took the professor a few minutes to come back and start distributing chocolate.

"What was that?" Harry started the conversation.

"A dementor. They guard Azkaban, the wizarding prison."

"So, they were looking for Sirius Black?"

"I suppose. They should never have boarded a train full of school children. But they are off now. Eat the chocolate. It'll help with the effects, believe it or not. I have to go talk to the driver and see if everyone is OK."

"Thanks."

After an awkward pause, Hermione finally seemed to come out of her daze. "That was awful."

"You OK?"

"Yeah, I just felt so cold and …" For once, she seemed at a loss for words.

"I felt like I'd never be cheerful again." Ron summed it up for everyone, and they all nodded in agreement.

"How are you doing?" Remus, no Professor Lupin, was back. Harry had to get into the habit of thinking of him that way again.

There was a general murmur from the various occupants of the carriage, but then they went quiet. Harry decided to take advantage of the situation.

"Professor Lupin, are you the new DADA teacher?"

"Yes, I am. How'd you guess?"

"Well, as Hermione pointed out, your bag has your name on it, and there's only one teacher that we are aware of that left at the end of last year."

"Ah, I see. I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage then as I don't know all of your names."

Harry did the introductions, leaving himself until the last.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all. I look forward to teaching you."

"Guys, do you mind if we ask him about Scabbers and Crookshanks?"

"What, now?" Ron asked

Yeah, we might as well. The sooner we know if something is wrong the better, right?"

"I guess."

Lupin was watching this exchange but seemed content to wait until one of them addressed him. "Ron has a rat for a pet, and Hermione just got a cat. The cat was going at the rat something fierce earlier, so we put them both in their carriers and kept them away from each other. I know it's not exactly unusual for a cat to try to harass a rat, but Ron and his family have had this rat as a pet for years, and they've never had problems before. You know how pets are in the magical world. They seem to know what is food and what is someone else's pet. Also, the rat has been acting odd and looking a bit sickly for a few months now. We were wondering if you could look him over and see if someone had cursed him or if there was something else odd going on."

"Well, I could certainly try. I'm no magical creatures expert, but I know a bit."

"Scabbers isn't magical. Percy found him in the garden when he was just a kid and begged Mum and Dad to keep him. I inherited him when Percy got an owl for being named prefect. That was right before I started at Hogwarts." Ron said all this while handing the cage containing Scabbers over to the professor.

"Oh, I see. So, how old is he?"

"About 12 years or so."

Harry was looking closely enough to see Lupin's eyes widen just a bit as he was looking at the rat. He didn't know if he had recognized him or if the idea of a common garden rat living that long had surprised him, but he hoped the timing got him thinking.

"Ron, would you mind if I put your rat to sleep while I look him over?"

"It won't hurt him, would it?"

"No, it's a very gentle sleeping spell. It just means he won't wake again until sometime after the spell is lifted. I don't want to upset him with my diagnostic spells."

"Ok, then. That's sounds like a good idea."

"Excellent." At that, Lupin mumbled a spell, and the rat slumped into sleep.

Harry was hoping that Lupin really put the rat to sleep because he recognized him. But he may have been putting him to sleep just to make it easier to handle him. After all, Wormtail had certainly recognized Lupin as evidenced by his increasingly more and more frantic behavior since Ron had handed the cage over to Lupin. Harry watched as Lupin mumbled a few more spells at the rat through the cage bars. Then, he reached in and pulled him out gently and mumbled a bit more. A few different colored spells were used, but not all of them were said out loud, and those that had been were said quietly so Harry had no idea what he was doing.

"Ron, do you mind if I hold onto your rat for a few hours? There is something coming up on my scans, but I'm not completely sure what it is. I'd like to ask one of the other teachers to help me figure it out."

"Is he OK?"

"Your rat is fine. And I'll take very special care of him. I'm just not sure what my scans are saying as they are a bit inconclusive. It might be nothing. But I'm sure you'd rather know now rather than wait."

"Oh, yeah, definitely. Do you think I'll get him back tonight?"

"I'm not sure. You know how late it is by the time the opening feast is over. By the time we finish with him, you'll probably be asleep. How about we plan for me to take care of him tonight, and then I'll let you know what's going on in the morning?"

"Ummm, sure." Ron looked a bit nervous, but he at least didn't look angry or annoyed. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too annoyed with Harry for starting this. But a bigger part of Harry was hoping that Lupin was just snowing Ron until the adults could handle the thought-to-be-dead-former-friend-hiding-as-an-Animagus issue.

"Shall we wait for you to look over Crookshanks until you've figured out what's going on with your scans on Scabbers?" Harry inserted himself into the conversation. He wanted to be sure Ron didn't think this was some conspiracy against his pet.

"That sounds like an excellent plan." The professor smiled at the various occupants of the carriage, and then his eyes cut away to the window as the rhythm of the train changed slightly. "Well, it looks like we will be pulling into Hogsmeade in just a few moments. I need to go speak to the driver again, and then I'll head up to the castle and see if I can get someone's attention before the feast starts." With this, he grabbed his bag and Scabbers cage and walked out of the carriage.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were on their way to breakfast when McGonagall intercepted them. "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, please come with me. Ms. Granger, you may continue on to breakfast."

With shrugs, they turned around and followed her to her office.

"Percy? What're you doing here?"

"If you'll take a seat, Mr. Weasley, I will explain." Ron's face turned a bit red, but he wisely stayed silent and took a chair. "Since there are two Weasleys present, I thought it might be easier if I address all of you by first name. Any objections?"

Mumbles of assent came from both Ron and Harry while Percy nodded.

"Yesterday, Ron and Harry asked our new defense teacher to take a look at Ron's rat. When he arrived at the castle with the rat, Professor Lupin requested my assistance."

"Scabbers?" Percy questioned.

"I shall let you find out from them later about why they felt this was necessary. However, it was quite fortunate that they did." Here she paused and seemed to be deciding what to say. "There is no nice way to say this, so I'll be blunt. It turns out that your rat was not a rat at all. Rather, he was an Animagus who has been hiding in his animal form for the past dozen years."

"What? That's ridiculous." Ron sounded shocked and a bit angry.

"I assure you, it is quite true. I saw him transform right before my eyes."

"Why would anyone do that?"

"That is where we get to the part of the story that affects Harry. When your parents went into hiding, they made use of a special charm called the Fidelius Charm. It allows the caster to hide a secret inside the soul of another person. Only that person can then tell anyone else the secret. In your parents' case, this charm was used to hide their location. Unless the secret keeper disclosed their location to him, You-Know-Who could have been standing outside their kitchen window, and he would not have known it. In fact, he would not have even seen their house."

"Wow."

"Indeed. At the time of their deaths, everyone assumed that Sirius Black was their secret keeper. He and your father were very close friends, almost like brothers. What we discovered last night was that another of their friends, Peter Pettigrew, was actually the secret keeper. Unbeknownst to them, he had become a Death Eater and had been spying on those who were fighting for the Light. He gave their location to You-Know-Who, faked his own death, and has spent the past few years pretending to be a common garden rat."

"Scabbers was …"

"I'm afraid so. Your rat was the man who betrayed Lily and James Potter. He is now in Ministry custody."

Ron looked slightly green. Harry looked at Percy and noticed he looked a quite pale and wide-eyed as well. Harry was trying desperately to look as shocked and upset as he would if he was hearing this for the first time.

"I thought I heard that Sirius Black killed a bunch of Muggles."

McGonagall nodded at Harry. "We don't know all of the details yet. But after he was discovered last night, Peter was questioned quite thoroughly by Professor Lupin, who was also your father's friend. It appears that Sirius attempted to confront Peter about the betrayal, but Peter had a plan. He yelled for the bystanders to hear about Sirius betraying James and Lily, cast a spell to blow up the street, and then escaped in his Animagus form. He also cut off his own finger to be found in the remains of the explosion so we would think he was dead."

"Oh, Merlin. Scabbers was missing one of his toes."

"I don't understand how all of this didn't come out at Sirius Black's trial."

"It appears that Sirius never received a trial."

"What? How can they send a person to prison without a trial?" Harry didn't have to fake shock and outrage over this. Even all these years later, he was still as angry as hell. The fact that Sirius was killed while still a fugitive just made it worse.

"I have no explanation for you at this time. The Aurors will have to look into what exactly happened all those years ago, but the Headmaster does not remember a trial."

"There must have been a trial. The ministry wouldn't just send someone to prison for no reason," said Percy.

"Perhaps there was, Percy, but that only begs the question of how they could have missed this all the more. As far as we can tell, everyone was certain of his guilt, and so they saw no reason for a trial."

"What'll they do? Sirius Black has escaped, and they've got the Dementors here looking for him."

McGonagall turned back to Harry. "They are planning on recalling the Dementors very soon. I assume they will have a trial for Peter as quickly as possible. After that, I'm not sure." Here she took a deep breath. "Needless to say, this will not stay quiet for long, and I wanted to make sure you didn't hear about this in _The Daily Prophet._ Now, we all have to get some breakfast, and I need to hand out everyone's schedules. Let's head down to the Great Hall."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"What are you reading, Harry?" It was the Saturday after the first week of classes, and Harry and Hermione were reading in the common room. They had already had breakfast and come back, but Ron was still asleep.

"It's something I picked up while I was in Diagon Alley." He stopped and thought about what he wanted to say. It was important not to lie or mislead Hermione. He couldn't outright tell her about coming back in time right away. If he told her, he'd have to tell her why he could tell her but not anyone else. And being soul mates was an awfully large burden to put on a relationship between two 13-year-olds that hadn't even begun yet. But he planned to tell her eventually, and he wanted to make sure she didn't have any reason to accuse him of lying to her once she found out. "When I found it, I was hoping it would help me get a bit more control over my emotions and my magic." OK, she was likely to see that as being the result of blowing up Aunt Marge, but there was little he could do about that right now. "I wasn't sure if it was helping or not but now that I'm back here, I really think it is."

"Why do you say that?"

"Neither Snape or Malfoy have gotten to me as much as they used to. Of course, it's only been about a week." The book really had been helping with his Occlumency skills since it explained it much better than Snape ever had. "So I thought I'd reread it and see if I could get even more out of it now that I need it more."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Do you want to read it after I'm done with it? Not that I think you need it. I just know you like to learn new stuff, and the last half of the book is mostly about Occlumency and Legilimency. Have you heard of them?"

"No, I don't think I've read anything about them."

"Legilimency is a type of magic that allows someone to get a glimpse of someone else's memories. It's not really mind reading, but you can see things that someone else is thinking about and sometimes tell if they are lying."

"I can't believe that's possible!"

"Sort of, like I said. The book explains it better, obviously. Apparently, very few people know how to do it, so you don't have to worry that everyone is looking in your head all the time. In any case, Occlumency is a defense against Legilimency. And that's what I'm trying to learn."

"If Legilimency is so rarely used, why are you trying to learn Occlumency?"

"Well, some of the early exercises for Occlumency are pretty much the same as the ones they suggest for control over your magic. So, it's sort of an extension of that and will help me get even better control. Plus, there are other benefits. If you get pretty good at it, it's supposed to help with your memory. It helps you to recall things that you already know when you want them. I don't really think you'd need that, but I think it'll be really helpful for me."

"Hey, I work really hard to remember all that stuff. I reread things over and over and use all sort of memory tricks."

"So, maybe it could help you do it with a bit less work. I don't know. Either way, it also sometimes provides resistance to magic that affects the mind, like the Confundus Charm or Obliviate. But that's really only if you get really good at Occlumency."

"Wow, I definitely want to read that after you."

"It shouldn't take me long to finish with it since it's my second time through. I'll probably be able to get it to you by the end of the weekend."

"Thanks, Harry."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry was glad to find Hagrid holding a niffler when he got to his first Care of Magical Creatures class a few days later. Well that was one thing off his list. Sure, Hagrid might still skip ahead to something dangerous in a few weeks, but he had at least given Buckbeak a fighting chance. Plus, he rather thought nifflers were an inspired choice to impress the students for their first class. They were cute and fuzzy and mostly harmless. And better yet, you could use get them to dig around in the dirt for buried treasure.

Harry was even more pleased when Hagrid used two animals to demonstrate and while the class watched them dig, he lectured them on the facts they would need to know about the animals. Then, he had small groups come up and handle the nifflers under his careful eye while the rest of the class read the chapter that covered them in more detail. Those that finished reading could start on a short essay to be turned in at the beginning of the next class.

Overall, Hagrid was remarkably professional, and the class went off without a hitch. Even Malfoy seemed interested in the animal's ability to find buried treasure, and Hagrid's definite plan for how the lesson would go had left Malfoy with little time to cause trouble.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

It was the next Saturday and Harry and Hermione were eating breakfast alone again. "You know, the weather looks beautiful out there. What do you say we take our books outside and read by the lake while we still can? We can get some food together and make a picnic of it for lunch."

"Sure, Harry, that sounds like fun."

Harry didn't want to bring up the sticky issue of house elves by going to the kitchen and getting them to make up a basket. So, they finished their breakfast, gathered some toast, bacon, and fruit from the tables and headed back up to the Gryffindor to get their books. When Harry got to his room, he transfigured a chocolate frog box into a basket and a t-shirt into a blanket and packed the blanket and food into the basket. Then, he grabbed his Transfiguration book and headed down to the common room to meet Hermione. In no time, they were settling down on the blanket in a quiet spot by the lake.

Instead of opening his book, he turned to Hermione. "It occurs to me that we've been friends since first year, but I still don't know much about your life outside of Hogwarts. Tell me about your family."

Harry and Hermione spent the next few hours exchanging stories from their time before Hogwarts and first impressions of the wizarding world. Later, when they had finally gotten back to their books, Harry was surprised by how much he had ended up sharing with Hermione. She would share a story of being punished for "climbing on the bookcases to get the book she wanted," which was actually one of the first times she remembered doing accidental magic. Harry naturally reciprocated with his own stories of accidental magic and the adults that punished him for it. Of course, his stories tended to be a bit more distressing – locked in his room and the like. But all in all, Harry really felt like they had gotten to know each other better. He would have to come up with an excuse to do something like this again soon.


	6. Chapter 6

It took the better part of two weeks to convict Peter Pettigrew and subsequently exonerate Sirius. Harry was reading the headline over Hermione's shoulder — since he refused to give _The Daily Prophet_ any money by subscribing — when Dumbledore stood up to announce that the Dementors had been recalled to Azkaban. Harry took a deep breath. OK, now they just had to get word to Sirius somehow. Harry wanted to leave a note at the Shrieking Shack in the hopes he would show up there, but he couldn't give away his knowledge of what the place meant to the old Marauders — or even that he knew who the Marauders were. Harry supposed he'd just have to sit tight for a while and leave it to the adults. But it really chafed.

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It was the end of September by the time Harry finally managed to find some time when no one would wonder where he was for an hour or two. He had already retrieved the tiara from the Room of Requirement within the first few weeks of school. That had been relatively easy to do.

He took a detour coming back from a Runes class one day. Hermione was already using her time turner and often disappeared unexpectedly. He hadn't noticed it last time; but this time, it was difficult to not bring Ron's attention to it. Harry took the opportunity of being alone to go to the room and call up the cathedral-like room of hidden things. He went right to where he remembered the tiara being, grabbed it, stuffed it in his bag. and headed back up to Gryffindor Tower. Once he was back in his room, he waited until it was empty and opened the last compartment of his refurbished trunk. He placed the tiara in a special null magical field box he had purchased for this purpose and put the box back into the unused compartment.

Today, he took some supplies he had purchased on Diagon Alley and put his invisibility cloak on over his grubbiest clothes and made his way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He charmed the door locked after putting a notice-me-not spell on the outside. Then, he took off his cloak and looked around for the weeping ghost. When she didn't show, he figured she was off peeping at someone in a bathroom again. Within a few moments, he had the sink open (recording his voice saying "open" in Parseltongue on a recording crystal just in case). He tried a few other words to get a stairway or some other way to descend and then decided this must have been Slytherin's way of giving the snake the ability to get to the school. Harry wondered where Slytherin's entrance to the chamber was but decided he didn't care just yet. He didn't have time for a really thorough search today. Once he had the venom and they had destroyed all of Voldemort's Horcruxes, he'd think about letting other people down there to harvest the beast and explore the chamber.

Harry had done his homework, so he was able to open up the rock fall while shoring up the ceiling by forming some of the fallen rocks into a very stable archway and others back to where they were in the first place in the ceiling. In no time, Harry was facing the snake doorway again. This time, he took out the crystal that recorded sight as well as sound. Again, he wasn't sure if he'd ever need or want it, but he decided to go with his instincts. Plus, he might be able to use it to show the crew he hired to harvest the basilisk what size animal they needed to be ready for. He opened the doors and walked up to the animal. He stood back and allowed the crystal to get a overview of the animal until he placed the crystal on a special stand (not unlike a tripod) and then walked into what he knew would be the frame of what the crystal was recoding so someone watching could compare his size to that of the snake. He walked slowly from head to tail and thanked his lucky stars for Fawkes. Then he walked back to the crystal and took some readings of the room as a whole, including some close ups of Slytherin's statue. Finally, he turned off the recording and pocketed the crystal. It was the work of only a few moments to get two good-size vials of basilisk venom. He had purchased special vials used for highly toxic or poisonous substances, and he was careful with the seal.

Harry looked around one more time and then headed back the way he came. When he got to the pipe, he grabbed the broom he had left at the bottom after coming down that way and headed back up. It was tricky flying, but he enjoyed the challenge. Within an hour of heading down, Harry was back in the bathroom. He cleaned himself up a bit, put the sink back in its proper place, and unlocked the door. He looked carefully both ways before emerging from the door, turning back to take off the notice-me-not, and heading back to Gryffindor. The venom joined the tiara in the well-warded, hidden third compartment of his trunk, and Harry took a shower. He knew things were much easier when you knew what you were doing, but he was left waiting for the other shoe to drop since things were going too smoothly so far.

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Harry looked over at Hermione as she studied from what looked like a half dozen books at once in the common room. It was only mid-October, and she already had thick bags under her eyes, her skin was pale, and there was a frantic look on her face. This time around his third year, Harry was more than aware of how much she was over-working herself.

"Hermione, you look like you need a break. Let's take a walk down to the lake and back."

"Hmm?" Hermione blinked at him a few times and then looked back to her books. "No, I can't. I have to finish this."

"None of that is due tomorrow, Hermione. Twenty minutes for a little fresh air and exercise won't kill you."

"Harry, I can't."

Please, Hermione. I'm worried about you."

"Fine. But just down to the lake and back."

They walked almost completely in silence. Harry contented himself with checking her face periodically and watching as the frantic look in her eyes faded and a little bit of color came back to her skin. They stood on the lake shore for a few minutes and then headed back to the castle.

As they approached the portrait of the fat lady, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it for a moment and then let go. "Thanks, Harry. I needed that and if you hadn't insisted, I never would have taken the break."

"Happy to help." He smiled at her warmly.

As he followed her into the common room, he noticed Ron giving them both a funny look. "Where were you two?"

"We just took a short walk down to the lake and back." Harry watched as Hermione went back to her books but this time she grabbed just one book and sat back in a more relaxed posture to do her reading. Ron was still looking at him a little oddly, but he would just have to get used to Harry and Hermione doing things together.

But that wasn't going to stop him from making sure Ron didn't feel neglected. As Harry sat down, he started a conversation about Quidditch and focused on Ron for a bit.

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It was the first Hogsmeade weekend as well as Halloween, and despite what some might think, Harry was very excited. He wasn't excited about seeing Hogsmeade because he no more had a signed permission slip than he did the last time he lived through his third year. No, Harry was excited because Professor Lupin was going to be taking Harry to visit Sirius today. He had turned himself in a little more than a week ago. It took a few days for all of the details of his "release" to be worked through, and then Sirius was strong-armed into checking himself into St. Mungo's for treatment. Professor Lupin reported he had seen Sirius last weekend, and he had asked about Harry. So, today they would be visiting him together.

"Harry, you have to be aware of what you are going to see when we get there. Sirius is doing remarkably well for someone who has spent the last 12 years in Azkaban. However, remarkably well for a former inmate is still not good. He sometimes forgets how much time has passed since he has been in prison, and other times he gets lost in the memories the Dementors would cause him to relive.

Harry nodded. He remembered how bad Sirius had looked in the Shack last time. And he was sure it would be worse this time since he hadn't had as much time since he escaped. Harry was determined, however, that this visit would go well. Luckily, it wasn't left up to Harry.

"Sirius, I've brought you a visitor."

"Harry!" Sirius rasped and his eyes widened in shock.

Before Harry could get out more than a "Hello," he was surrounded with the smell of Sirius as he had been attacked with a giant bear hug. Luckily, Harry already knew Sirius from his former life, or it would have been awkward. As it was, Harry was clinging to Sirius almost as desperately as Sirius was clinging to Harry. Both of them politely declined to notice the moistness of the other's eyes as they pulled back.

Harry was sure things were going to be fine.

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_November 10, 1993_

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_This letter is to inform you that the expedition that you requested has been completed, and the object in question has been stored in a secure location. Attached you will find your final invoice. The amount has already been withdrawn from vault 687 per your request. _

_I apologize for the delay in writing to you. Although the object had been found and secured a few weeks ago, I wanted to wait until our researchers had finished their work so I could report on both answers at one time. Attached you will also find their report. The short version is that a living object can be an anchor. You should be able to use the spell I showed you to detect the presence of an anchor in a living being just as you would in an inanimate object. _

_However, we are pleased to inform you that we have found a method of destroying the anchor without destroying the object or animal it is imbedded in. As a consequence, Gringotts would like to speak to you about how you would like to handle the final disposition of the objects in question. I understand that you are at school right now. Would a meeting on 12/21 at 10 a.m. be convenient? _

_I will expect your owl. _

_Ironfist_

_Gringotts Expedition and Curse Breaking Services_

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Harry knew he had been putting it off, but it was well past time. He waited until his roommates were asleep and walked quietly to the bathroom. After making sure he was alone, he approached a mirror. He had perfected the spell he had learned from the goblin last night behind his curtains. He kept practicing until he could perform it at a whisper and get the appropriate red and back patterned glow from the tiara five times in a row. He now raised his wand to his own head and whispered the spell. After a full minute with no distinctive red and black glow, he started to breathe again. He quickly centered himself and performed the spell twice more just to be sure.

After the last negative response, his legs gave out under him. After a few minutes, he pulled himself up using the sink to steady himself and splashed some water on his face. As he walked back to his bed, the relief was receding, and Harry felt the anger surfacing. Of course, he wouldn't be where he was right now if he hadn't believed Dumbledore and Snape. Sirius was free. Harry and Hermione were all but dating. Harry felt the bubble of happiness he always felt when he and Hermione managed to get time alone to talk these days.

They hadn't moved on to kissing, and there was no talk of boyfriends or girlfriends, but Harry was very aware of the fact that he was only 13 years old and had the time to move slowly. This way, Hermione and he were really getting to know each other, and Ron was getting used to seeing them go off together to talk or study.

Harry was fairly certain he would be awake for hours dealing with his various mood swings as a result of finding out he was not a Horcrux.

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**Author's note: **

According to HP lexicon:  
Hogsmeade visits during POA were 10/31, 12/18, 2/12, and 6/10  
Christmas hols: 12/19 to 01/02 (start of term 1/3)  
End of year feast 6/17


	7. Chapter 7

Late in November, Harry found himself watching and worrying about Hermione again. Hermione had always worked extra hard on all of her assignments: keeping ahead of her reading assignments, making sure to do all the supplemental reading, researching written assignments thoroughly, and writing and rewriting those assignments multiple times until she was satisfied. The strain of trying to keep to her own exacting standards with all the extra classes was really taking a toll on her. He was sure living a 27-hour day with only the usual amounts of sleep wasn't helping either.

"Hermione, I'm worried about you."

"What? Why?"

"Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You look like you are making yourself sick trying to keep up with all of the courses you signed up for. Couldn't you drop one?"

"No! I couldn't do that. Plus, they're all so interesting. I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to take them all."

"Really? I wouldn't think learning more about what wizards have wrong about Muggles would be that interesting. And from what Ron says, the Divination instructor is a bit of a joke. Couldn't your drop one of them at least?"

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Well, ummm, I just can't."

"I think you'll find you are allowed, so technically, you can. And I've asked around and you are the only student in at least the last four years who has tried to take all of the electives. Students just aren't meant to take that many courses. So, think about it. Why do you really feel like you can't drop one or two of them?"

She opened her mouth but then closed it before she said something. Her eyes appeared unfocused as she looked thoughtful for a full minute. "Because quitting would be admitting I can't do the work. I've never failed at anything I've tried to do academically before, and I don't want to start now."

"OK, I can see how you would see it that way. But maybe how you could see it is you realizing that those two courses aren't teaching you anything you really need to know. Or realizing that one of our teachers should have told you last year that you weren't allowed to take this many electives. After all, I don't know how you are managing it, but some of those courses are meeting at the same times — so if that doesn't indicate one person isn't supposed to be taking both courses, I don't know what does."

"But …"

"Please, Hermione, give it some serious thought. It's not even halfway through the year, and you are making yourself sick trying to keep up with all the extra work you've taken on. It isn't worth your health just so you can prove to yourself that you can do this."

"Alright, Harry. I'll think about it." She looked down and bit her lip before looking back up at him. "Thanks for worrying about me. It's kind of nice to know you care enough to look out for me."

He smiled at her and reached out to cover her hand with his own. "Of course I care, Hermione. You're important to me, and I don't like to see you so worn down."

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"So, Harry, you remember how I invited you to spend Christmas with me?" Sirius leaned against Professor Lupin's desk as he addressed his godson. He had insisted when they met that Harry call him Sirius and not Mr. Black. This had been reinforced over the past month or so as they exchanged a few letters and got to know each other better.

"Yeah, is there a problem? Because I can stay at Hogwarts if I have to." It was the first week of December, and Harry was really hoping that plans hadn't changed since Ron and Hermione had only decided to go home for Christmas after they found out that Harry wasn't going to be staying at the castle.

"No, not really. But we want to talk to you about it because some of my plans aren't working out exactly as I had hoped. See, my family has always been as black as their name, and the house we would be staying in is the one I grew up in. It was never pretty, and there have always been all sorts of dark and cursed objects around. But apparently, my mother's house elf went even further around the twist at some point since she died, because he's let the house go. There's about a metric ton of dust on every available surface, doxies in the curtains, and who knows what other kinds of infestations. I was hoping to have professionals in to clean it up and get rid of most of the cursed stuff, but there's no way they would be done in time for Christmas. So, I told them to start in January."

Lupin took over the explanation. "Sirius and I were talking, and we think we can still do the visit. He's of the opinion it could be a fun adventure for a 13-year-old since he is still mentally about the same age, and I think you might be interested in a bit of hands-on Defense lessons since you're one of my top students – learning how to get rid of the infestations and scan objects for curses and the like. But if we do this, you'll have to promise us to be very careful and leave things alone that we tell you are too dangerous."

Now, Sirius took over again. "Yeah, because too dangerous in this case is a book that can eviscerate you just because you open it and other nasties like that. So, would you still be interested?" Sirius looked hopeful, and Harry was reminded of the one Christmas he had spent with Sirius in his other life.

"Absolutely!" Harry was excited — both for the chance to get and destroy the Horcrux before the professionals got to it and for the opportunity to get to know Sirius all over again. He was already more alive and healthy looking than he had been after years out of Azkaban in Harry's past life.

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Harry told Sirius he had some Christmas shopping to do and that he needed to go to Gringotts. It took a bit of work to get them to let him go on his own, but he eventually succeeded. Luckily, he had done all of his Christmas shopping by owl before leaving Hogwarts.

Within just a few minutes of flooing to the Leaky Cauldron, he was sitting across from Ironfist and digging the null magic box with the tiara and locket out of his backpack. Harry placed the box on the table and opened it.

"Are they…"

"They are."

"And the animal?"

"Is not a Horcrux. I checked it three times myself."

"Excellent. Now, let us discuss this method of destroying the Horcrux without destroying the objects. You may have noticed that all of the objects you have found are quite valuable."

"Yes, Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem. I'm not sure if the ring really is the Resurrection Stone; but even if it isn't, it appears quite old and valuable."

"The method we found is really more of a ritual. Luckily, it is a relatively short ritual, but it is expensive and difficult to perform as it calls for the use of a large, perfect diamond for each object we cleanse in this manner."

"And how long would it take for you to prepare and perform this ritual?"

"Actually, we are prepared to perform the ritual today. Our rules are really quite strict about destroying Horcruxes as quickly as possible, so we wanted to be prepared."

"I see. And how much will it cost me for you to destroy all four Horcruxes without destroying the objects?"

"Gringotts would like to offer you the service of destroying the Horcrux in all of these objects in exchange for the objects themselves."

"And if I agreed, what would you do with them?"

"We would, most likely, hold on to them for a few years to ensure that there were no unknown other anchors of the dark wizard still around and then slowly sell them in the collector's market to recover our outlay on the ritual."

"With three founders objects and that ring, I'm sure you would more than cover your costs with just one sale."

"Perhaps, Mr. Potter. But that is the offer we are prepared to make."

Harry thought about it. He didn't really want any of them. They would just remind him of Voldemort, and it would be more than awkward to try to explain his possession of any of them. "I have a request."

Ironfist simply raised his eyebrows.

"I would like to attend the ritual and record it using a video recording crystal. I would like evidence of their destruction to show to a few people if the need arises. Plus there is a house elf who has been trying to destroy that locket for his dead master for many years, and I would like to offer him some peace of mind."

"I don't see any reason why that should be a problem."

"In that case, we have a deal."

Ironfist added a few sentences to the contract he had already made out, Harry read it over carefully, and then he signed it. Ironfist signed it, duplicated it, and offered a copy to Harry.

"Shall we, Mr. Potter?" Ironfist stood up and gestured for Harry to precede him through the door behind him.

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The next day, the few students in the hallways during Christmas break were buzzing about an unusual occurrence. Severus Snape had almost run past them in the corridors of Hogwarts. His shirt was buttoned incorrectly, and his robe was not fastened at all. One of the students swore his hair was still wet, but everyone else insisted it was just greasier than usual.

"Albus."

"Severus, my boy, what is wrong?"

"He's gone."

"I'm afraid I don't understand you. Have a seat, please. Take a breath and start at the beginning." Dumbledore conjured some tea and started to prepare a cup with two sugars and a splash of milk, just the way he knew his Potions master preferred it.

"When I woke up this morning, I felt like something was a bit off, like something was missing. I assumed I just needed some food since I didn't eat much last night. It was while I was taking my shower that I realized it. There is no magic coming from my mark. You know that we looked at it after that Halloween. The physical mark had faded, but I could still feel it — that presence of him that I felt since the moment he branded it on me. And you could detect the spells he had worked in it but couldn't undo them. It's one of the reasons we knew he couldn't be all the way dead and that he would come back one day. Well, not now. It's completely dead." During his recital, Snape had worked his sleeve up, and he was now showing it to the Headmaster.

"Are you sure?"

"Check for yourself."

Every scan Dumbledore performed came up negative. The dark mark was now just a faded tattoo on Snape's forearm.

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On New Year's Eve day, Harry finished writing about his conversation with Kreacher after he came back from Gringotts and closed the notebook he had been using to collect all his thoughts and memories about coming back in time. He was glad he had put most of it down on paper because he had noticed in the last few days that the memories of his previous life were fading more quickly than could be explained away with the passage of time. He had a feeling that in a few more weeks or months, it would all seem like a strange dream to him.

Part of him was upset at losing the memories, but another part of him was relieved. Most of them would no longer be relevant. He had changed things so much that this year already barely resembled his original third year. And now that he had disposed of the last of the Horcruxes that he knew about, he really just needed to remember enough to read over his notebook or watch his recording crystal of destroying the Horcruxes when/if Voldemort still managed to come back. But Harry was almost certain that wasn't going to happen. He couldn't explain why. He just knew it on some instinctive level.

He wasn't sad to lose memories of various people dying the last time. He was certain that forgetting the look on Sirius' face as he fell through the veil or the blank look on George's face as he looked at his dead twin's body was a good thing. In addition, losing some of those future memories was already starting to help him feel more like the 13-year-old he was and less like he was lying to all of his friends.

So, Harry closed the notebook. He had already spelled it so only he could read it months ago. Now, he placed a quick note on the cover. "In case of the return of Voldemort, read this book." He didn't know how far along the memory loss would go so he figured that should work. Next he put it and the crystal he used to record the destruction of the Horcruxes in the special pocket he had created in the side of the second compartment of his trunk. He used that compartment often enough he would see the note frequently, and the special pocket would keep it from being lost in the bottom of the trash that would undoubtedly accumulate in the trunk.

Harry closed his trunk and checked his watch. He still had 30 minutes to get washed, dressed and downstairs. Sirius, Remus and Harry were having dinner at the Grangers, and Harry was terribly nervous. After all, he might not be dating Hermione yet, but he planned to. And if Sirius and Remus had caught on enough to razz him about mooning over her, he was sure that her parents would see it too. Harry might have the rest of his life to live free of Voldemort, but he only had one chance to make a good impression on his future in-laws.

He hoped Genevieve was happy with his solution.

FIN


End file.
